The bottom line is clear: Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them. On the contrary, waging a lengthy counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan may well do more to aid Taliban recruiting than to dismantle the group, help spread conflict further into Pakistan, unify radical groups that might otherwise be quarreling amongst themselves, threaten the long-term health of the U.S. economy, and prevent the U.S. government from turning its full attention to other pressing problems. -- Afghanistan Study Group

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The French MoD is reporting the death of a French ISAF soldier from an accidental explosion of ammunition in southern Kapisa province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 18th. Four additional soldiers were wounded in the incident. Here's the ISAF release.

Baghdad:#1: An Iraqi Education Ministry staff was seriously injured in an explosive charge blast west of Baghdad on Wednesday, a security source said. “Abbas Hassan Mar’ie was seriously injured in an explosive charge blast under his car in west Baghdad’s Iskan housing complex, whilst another citizen was also injured,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: An Iraqi civilian has been killed and two others were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) that blew up under a car in central Baghdad’s Bab al-Muadham district on Thursday, a security source said. “An IED blew up under a civilian car close to Adilah Khatoun Mosque in central Baghdad’s Bab al-Muadham district on Thursday, killing its driver on the spot,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

A sticky bomb attached to a cleric's car blew up in central Baghdad, killing the cleric and wounding two passers-by, an Interior Ministry source said.

#3: Three civilians have been injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast close to northern Baghdad’s Aqaba bin-Naf’e Square on Thursday, a security source said. “An IED blew off on the roadside, close to the so-called Mission Compound in northern Baghdad’s Aqaba bin-Naf’e Square on Thursday, wounding three civilians,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Diyala Prv:#1: A parked car bomb targeting the convoy of police Lieutenant-Colonel Abdul Hameed al-Shimari, the emergency response unit commander in Diyala province, killed two civilians and wounded 10 people in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. Shimari escaped injury but three of his guards were among the wounded, the source said.

Kirkuk:#1: Twin bombs that appeared timed to lure policemen out of their fortified headquarters in a northern Iraqi city killed 22 people on Thursday, most of them police officers. Scores were wounded in the double blasts in Kirkuk, and a third explosion 45 minutes later on a road to a city hospital brought the number of injured to at least 60, said provincial health director Siddiq Oman. Kirkuk police Capt. Abdul Salam Zangana said the first explosion, in a central Kirkuk parking lot at about 9 a.m., sent policemen rushing outside their secure headquarters compound to investigate. That's when the second blast hit, Zangana said. The double blasts killed 22 people, most of them policemen, and wounded more than 52, he said. It also heavily damaged the police headquarters, where rescue workers frantically combed through the rubble to find victims. The third bomb set cars and trucks ablaze when it exploded about 550 yards (500 meters) away, targeting a police patrol near a mosque, said Zangana, who oversees security units at the hospital where the dead and wounded were brought. Zangana said eight people were wounded in that blast.

Mosul:#1: A policeman was injured by a blast aimed at his patrol east of Mosul, security sources at the province said today. The source pointed out to Aswat al-Iraq that the explosion led to material damage in a patrol vehicle.

Al Anbar Prv:#1: Three Army soldiers and an officer, with a colonel rank, have been injured in an explosive charge blast against their patrol in western Iraq’s city of Falluja, an Anbar police source said on Wednesday. “An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in Falluja city, 60 km to the west of Ramadi, the center of Anbar Province, blew up against an Army patrol, wounding 4 of its members, among them an officer with a colonel rank, along with causing damage to their vehicle,” the police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"#1: Several civilians have been killed in a three-day US-led operation against militants in Afghanistan's northwestern Faryab province, witnesses say. In a Thursday statement, NATO announced that 65 militants were killed during the offensive. However, witnesses have told a Press TV correspondent that several civilians were also among the dead. The operation started on May 13 in Faryab's Qiasar district and lasted for three days, the NATO statement said.

#2: The first four died during a disputed night raid by U.S.-led troops who stormed a house shortly after midnight in the city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, in Afghanistan's northwest.

#3: The last 13 died when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a bus that was carrying police academy trainers in the eastern province of Nangarhar, one of the most violent regions of the country. It was the latest in a series of suspected Taliban attacks on Afghan security forces.

#4: Taliban forces have abducted 72 road workers and burned their equipment in southeastern Afghanistan, provincial officials said Thursday. The workers were taken from their camp in the Wazai district of Paktia province, where they were spending the night, said Abdullah Durani, the chief director of public works in the province. The Taliban also set fire to 12 vehicles and road-building equipment, he said.

#5-6: At least one person was killed and four others including three policemen injured on Thursday in two different bomb attacks in Pakistan's northwestern city of Naushehra, local sources said. In the first incident, a passerby was killed while three others including two policemen were injured when a roadside planted bomb exploded near a police van in the city. According to city police officer Imtiaz Khan, the incident occurred at Jahangira Chowk where a police van was on routine patrol and came under attack of a remote controlled bomb device. In another incident, one policeman was injured when some unknown persons threw a hand grenade at a refugees' registration center in the northwestern part of Pakistan.